Source: United States Senator for New York Charles E Schumer
Schumer Has Campaigned Relentlessly For Sgt. Henry Johnson, An African American WWI Hero, Who Was Denied Recognition Due To Racism and Segregation; Now Securing His Name On Louisiana Base Currently Named After A Confederate Soldier General
In 2015, At Schumer’s Request, The White House Posthumously Awarded The Medal Of Honor To Sgt. Henry Johnson For His Heroics In Singlehandedly Fighting Off Dozens Of German Soldiers
Schumer: An American Hero, NY Legend, Sgt. Johnson Now Slated To Receive Further Honor And Have His Story Uplifted To Inspire Soldiers Through His Bravery For Generations To Come
Following his long advocacy and recommendation to the Department of Defense, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer today announced that Sergeant Henry Johnson, African-American World War I hero and Albany resident, has been recommended to have Fort Polk in Louisiana renamed in his honor. This comes after Congress authorized the Naming Commission to provide new names for U.S. military bases and other Department of Defense assets originally named for Confederate leaders. Schumer has worked tirelessly to secure the long overdue recognition that Sgt. Johnson was denied due to racism and segregation, including getting the White House to posthumously award him the Medal of honor for his WW I heroics as a Harlem Hellfighter. Now, Schumer said Sgt. Johnson is slated to receive this special honor, held only by the finest in our nation, in having a military base named for his courageous service to ensure his legacy lives on and continues to inspire future generations.
“Sgt. Henry Johnson, Albany resident and Harlem Hellfighter, is a true American hero, who displayed the most profound battlefield bravery in World War I, yet for almost a century the nation for which he was willing to give his life shamefully failed to recognize his heroics, just because he was a black man. Now, Sgt. Johnson’s name is slated to rightfully take the place of a Confederate general and have the southern military base renamed in his honor,” said Senator Schumer. “This announcement is another important step in rectifying a century-old injustice to turn away from a sad chapter in American history and continue to give the recognition to Sgt. Johnson, and the countless other African Americans who courageously fought for a nation that failed to treat them with full equality before the law. It took years of research from impassioned advocates and local historians, and, of course my staff, to allow Sgt. Johnson to receive our nation’s highest military award in the Medal of Honor, but now this culmination of work has paid off in a profound way and I am proud that soon we may see Fort Johnson standing proud to inspire others through his legacy.”
Schumer has led the fight to get Sgt. Henry Johnson the recognition he deserves for his bravery and heroism during WWI. Schumer submitted a nearly 1,300-page request to the military in support of Johnson’s receiving the Medal of Honor and launched an online petition to build public support. Schumer held a personal call with U.S. Army Secretary John McHugh, met with then Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Jessica Wright – who oversees decisions regarding Medals of Honor – and wrote a letter to former Secretary Hagel, all in an effort to secure the Medal of Honor for Sgt. Johnson. In concert with Sgt. Johnson’s activists, including the late John Howe, a Vietnam veteran, Schumer helped secure the second-highest American military honor for Johnson, the Distinguished Service Cross, in 2003. In 2014, Schumer’s staff discovered contemporaneous writings and accounts of Johnson’s acts by General John J. Pershing, Commander of the American Expeditionary Forces on the Western Front and Needham Roberts, Johnson’s foxhole partner who was wounded early in the battle. These key pieces of evidence, previously not known to exist, were the proof that the Awards Branch needed to recommend the Medal of Honor. Then, after Schumer added an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in 2014 to waive the time restrictions on receiving the Medal of Honor, on June 2, 2015 President Barack Obama posthumously awarded Sergeant Henry Johnson the Medal of Honor.
Sergeant Henry Johnson, an African American who was part of the “Harlem Hellfighters” that served under French Command due to segregation, was not properly recognized for gallantry during his lifetime. During World War I, then-private Henry Johnson fought with the French on the Western Front because of discriminatory laws in the United States. On May 14, 1918, Johnson came under attack by a German raider party of approximately 20 men. Despite sustaining numerous gunshot wounds, Johnson fought off an entire German advance, rescued his fellow soldier from certain capture, and acquired a large cache of enemy weapons. Schumer said that Johnson accomplished these actions with little training, a jammed rifle, and a bolo knife against an overwhelming German unit that was well trained during a raid that was carefully planned and meant to capture prisoners. Schumer said that, if not for Johnson’s bravery, with total disregard for his own life, his fellow soldiers would have been captured, a cache of weapons and supplies would not have been acquired by the allies, and valuable intelligence would have gone to the enemy. Johnson, who was permanently disabled after the fight, was issued a communique from General Pershing commending his service, and was awarded the Croix de Guerre with Gold Palm, one of the highest military honors of France, for his bravery in battle. Schumer said Sgt. William Henry Johnson’s heroism will now continue to inspire soldiers of our present and our future, just as it did for soldiers of his past.
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